Earth
Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech, Japan) and Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO, Spain) develop a method to generate circularly polarized light from the ultimate symmetrical structure: the sphere. Their approach involves breaking the inherent symmetry of the sphere by electron beam excitation, which allows for precisely controlling the phase and polarization of the emitted light. This method can be used to encode information in the phase and polarization direction of circularly polarized light, enabling novel quantum communication and encryption technologies.
The brain's structure has columnar features, which are hypothesized to arise from nerve cells (neurons) stemming from the same parent cell, initially forming radial units. How exactly this process unfolds at the molecular level remains unexplained, however. Now, an important insight comes from Makoto Sato and colleagues from Kanazawa University who show how, in the fly brain, a gene known as Dscam regulates how neurons from one lineage repel each other, and project their axons to different columns.
In modern information technology (IT), data are processed and carried by motion of electrons in a CPU. In the electric circuits, the electrons move in a desired direction by an applied electric field. A frequency of the on-off switching of the electron motion, which is referred to as a "CPU clock" for example, is an order of gigahertz (109 Hz).
As domestic violence skyrockets amid COVID-19, women's health experts are calling for compulsory training of obstetric health practitioners to ensure they can recognise the signs of coercive control for women in their care.
The recommendation follows new research by the University of South Australia and the University Melbourne that identifies the vital role that health professionals play in a woman's decision to stay or leave an abusive relationship.
Researchers from the Paul-Drude-Institut in Berlin, the Helmholtz-Zentrum in Dresden and the Ioffe Institute in St. Petersburg have demonstrated the use of elastic vibrations to manipulate the spin states of optically active color centers in SiC at room temperature. They show a non-trivial dependence of the acoustically induced spin transitions on the spin quantization direction, which can lead to chiral spin-acoustic resonances. These findings are important for applications in future quantum-electronic devices and have recently been published in Physical Review Letters.
Climate change is a topic of broad concern, with everyone wondering how the climate will change in the future. However, since climate change is a slow process, it is hard to study based on short-term observations, and hence using climate models has become the most common method employed by the scientific community.
Researchers at the Australian Institute of Marine Science have developed a dipstick test that can detect crown-of-thorns starfish (CoTS) on coral reefs by using the same technology as home pregnancy tests.
The dipstick, which is designed to be used in the field, measures specific DNA that CoTS release into the seawater. The rapid test can detect very low numbers of the coral-eating pest, which can be difficult to spot with current survey methods.
Biological control of insect pests - where 'natural enemies' keep pests at bay - is saving farmers in Asia and the Pacific billions of dollars, according to University of Queensland-led research.
Dr Kris Wyckhuys from UQ's School of Biological Sciences said biological control involved the careful release of an exotic natural enemy from a pest's native habitat.
"Scientists meticulously choose co-evolved beneficial insects that are the most effective and least likely to pose ecological upsets," Dr Wyckhuys said.
The observational study involving more than 1,300 people was led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), University of Malawi College of Medicine and colleagues at the University of Cambridge.
It found most patients admitted to hospital knew their HIV status, and that 90% were taking antiretroviral therapy.
However, approximately one-third of patients established on HIV treatment had significant levels of HIV in their blood, and more than 80% of these patients had resistance to two or more of their HIV antiretroviral drugs.
Cat owners fall into five categories in terms of their attitudes to their pets' roaming and hunting, according to a new study.
University of Exeter researchers surveyed UK cat owners and found they ranged from "conscientious caretakers" concerned about cats' impact on wildlife and who feel some responsibility, to "freedom defenders" who opposed restrictions on cat behaviour altogether.
Most animal cells need to become spherical in order to divide. To achieve this round shape, the cells must round up and deform their neighboring cells. In a growing tumor tissue, the tumor cells need to divide in an environment that is becoming more crowded than the healthy tissue. This means that the dividing tumor cells likely need to generate much higher mechanical forces to round up in such a densely packed surrounding. Yet, tumor cells seem to be adapted to overcome these difficulties. Scientists led by Dr.
Water molecules undergo ultrafast dithering motions at room temperature and generate extremely strong electric fields in their environment. New experiments demonstrate how in presence of such fields free electrons are generated and manipulated in the liquid with the help of an external terahertz field.
As introduced species spread around the world, the complex networks of interactions between plants and animals within ecosystems are becoming increasingly similar, a process likely to reinforce globalization's imprint on nature and increase risks of sweeping ecological disruption.
On September 2 2020, the open-access journals PLOS ONE & PLOS Medicine launched a Special Collection of manuscripts centered around the healthcare provided by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the primary U.S. federal agency for improving healthcare in underserved or vulnerable populations.
When NASA's Terra satellite passed over the Northwestern Pacific Ocean, it gathered water vapor data on recently developed Typhoon Haishen and found powerful storms in two locations.
Haishen strengthened quickly. It developed on August 31 as Tropical Depression 11W, and by Sept. 1, it had reached tropical storm status. By Sept. 2, it was a typhoon.